


Free

by cadkitten



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Cats, Gen, Rain, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2020-01-01 09:26:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18333251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cadkitten/pseuds/cadkitten
Summary: atsstared up at him in bold messy scrawl.It had to be part of a sign from one of the homeless, though why it was tucked in more cardboard was beyond him. He shifted to peer under the larger part, half expecting to find a small child huddled there. Instead, the rest of the sign glared up at him, making his heart pound.





	Free

**Author's Note:**

> For BatfamBingo2019 - "Free" - while I'm fully aware this was meant to be the free space, I feel like being a bit of a hilarious pain in the rumpus and have decided it means the prompt "free". ;)  
> Beta: kate1zena

Damian stood in the little alcove just outside a little downtown tea shop. He'd been craving coming here for months since it first opened and only today had provided him with enough time to do so. The pouring rain had a lot to do with it.

While Gotham normally had rain, it usually didn't end up _this_ bad. He made a face as he tugged the waterproof hood of his jacket up and cinched up the ties, looping them and yanking an untidy bow in it to keep it in place. Plucking his gloves from his pockets, he slid them on and laced his fingers together, stretching them to push his hands properly into the leather confines. 

Why he'd chosen to walk here was beyond him. Apparently even Damian Wayne could make poor decisions.

Stepping out into the rain, he hunched against it and turned left, making his way toward Wayne Enterprises and the car he tended to leave there instead of back towards his apartment and the longer walk in this unpleasant weather. 

Three blocks later found him clenching his jaw against the biting cold of the wind and regretting everything about how little civilian clothing did to prevent wind chill from being a factor. A particularly bad gust of wind pelted rain against the side of his face, stinging him, and he ducked into the next alcove, the bare overhang of the building not providing much in the way of protection, but enough that the rain cut against him less. Glancing down, he found soggy cardboard, part of a scribble of Sharpie on it sticking out in what appeared to be a child's handwriting. 

_ats_ stared up at him in bold messy scrawl.

It had to be part of a sign from one of the homeless, though why it was tucked in more cardboard was beyond him. He shifted to peer under the larger part, half expecting to find a small child huddled there. Instead, the rest of the sign glared up at him, making his heart pound.

_Free Cats_

Glancing around him, Damian quickly knelt and lifted the soggy cardboard to expose an even soggier box. Inside, four distressed little faces stared up at him, grimy, wet and fearful. Anger came behind the wave of sadness caused by seeing these poor animals left out in this, clearly unable to escape the box and just as clearly not having been street cats to start with, grungy little collars around their necks. 

Damian sighed. Jason was going to have his head for this, he was sure, but there was no way he was leaving them out here to die. Untying the strings on his hood, he then yanked his zipper down enough to pull his scarf free and then did back up his jacket and hood. Stooping lower, he reached into the box and gently lifted the first kitten, gently wrapping it in the scarf, it's little head poking out. He repeated the process with the other three and then tucked them against his chest, took a deep breath, and braved the wind and rain yet again.

He covered the rest of the distance between where he'd been and Wayne Enterprises quickly now that he had the proper motivation and once in his car, he used the emergency blanket he kept in the backseat to place under the kittens before placing the bundle in the passenger seat. 

The drive back to his apartment was punctuated with tiny scared mews and the occasional attempted escapee from the little nest he'd built. 

Upon arrival in his parking garage, Damian picked up the whole bundle and made his way to the elevator, mentally prepping himself for convincing Jason that not only were he and Titus living in his apartment while he went to college, but so were four tiny kittens.

Once the elevator arrived, he made his way down the hall and unlocked the door, pushing it open. The alarm wasn't on, which meant Jay was there. He kicked the door shut and immediately the clacking of nails on hardwood met his ears, Titus rounding the corner to come to his side. Damian gave his dog a fond smile and knelt to let the huge dog sniff at the bundle of kittens. Titus had been used to Alfred the cat before leaving the manor, so this wouldn't be all that different for him, he imagined. It would be the kittens who would be terrified of the enormous dog. 

Standing once Titus was satisfied with his cursory sniffing, Damian made his way into the bathroom, placing the bundle on the counter and gently settling each of the four kittens into the sink basin. Footsteps told him Jason was coming and Damian turned a bit toward the door, putting on his best pleading face. Jason leaned against the door frame, his eyes blatantly roving over Damian's drenched form, then to the blanket and scarf, and then the sink full of kittens. He sighed, shook his head, looked up at the ceiling and silently mouthed something Damian didn't catch before pushing away from the wall. 

"No more after this. I'm not running a shelter here. And try to find homes after they're settled." He paused, turning back to look at Damian. "I mean it, no more. Five's the limit in this tiny ass apartment, got it?"

Nothing could have kept the surprised look off Damian's face. No argument, just a decision and instructions for the future. He blinked, nodded, and turned back to the kittens, smiling as he cupped his hand under the water faucet and turned it on to a drizzle, letting it warm up. He'd wash them up and dry them and then go back out and get them food and litter boxes and dishes and brand new collars. 

One of the kittens mewled and Damian's heart melted. He'd do as Jason asked and try to re-home them, but it'd be a halfhearted effort, and given Jason's final words, he probably already knew that just as well as Damian did. He glanced toward the doorway, found Jason leaning on the back of the couch, silently watching him, and he smiled to himself as he reached for the pet shampoo. 

Maybe he was dripping on the tile, perhaps his shoes were soaked through, but today was a good day.


End file.
